Unwritten
by LaughinConfusion
Summary: Haruno Sakura has just been made a dancer in the renowned Hakirikaeru Dance Company on the Hokage dance team. Upon making the company, she makes friends and acquaintances. She also meets one Uchiha Sasuke about whom she cannot decide how she feels. Relationships will be built, tested and shredded as the team competes for the national title, with plenty of laughs, love and trouble.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and welcome to what is probably my most well-written fic yet. This is going to be my first real multi-chaptered fic that I plan on finishing. It isn't one of the action-packed stories that will have you begging for more, or one of the romantic stories that will have you sighing. It is merely intended to be a comedic story that vents my passion for dance and Naruto at the same time. **

**PAIRINGS: SasuSaku, NaruHina, SaiIno, SuiKarin, ShikaTema, GaaraOC and NejiTen.**

**WARNING: I'm trying out my choreography skills in this, as well as my dance descriptions. If these attempts make your head spin and detract from your overall satisfaction, tell me and I will fix it. I have a back-up plan, I assure you. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. All but one of these characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. I do own Kihara Chii. **

**DEDICATION: My great friend, patient beta and all around sweetheart Ashurei Aqu Blu, who has gone through this and been tolerant of my insecurities as I poked and prodded her for praise and criticism (which she delivered) and who has already helped me see how to make this story better. **

**Without further preamble, enjoy! **

_She nervously toyed with her pale pink ballet slippers as she waited for her number to be announced. She couldn't help the slight anxiety that arose within her as she contemplated what would happen if she failed. She derailed that train of thought before it could get incredibly far, and decided to focus on the what would happen were she to succeed. Her thoughts were cut short as she whipped her head over to the door to the dance studio, which had opened, and the girl before her came out crying. _

_"Number nineteen." A strong voice called from inside._

_The addressed girl rose from her seat on the marbled floor quickly and entered. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on her judge. She froze upon realizing exactly whose presence she was in._

_"Well, are you going to dance or just stand there?" The busty blonde barked. _

_The female to whom she spoke gave a slight start and nodded, hurriedly putting on her slippers. She walked to the middle of the floor and awaited instruction._

_"Alright. You will have exactly six sets of eight counts for improv in which I want to see you cover hip-hop, ballet, jazz and contemporary. These styles are what we frequently use for our routines. I have designated the music to allow you to do all of them." She received a comprehensive nod. "Good."_

_The music began playing, pervading the room. The young woman took a deep breath, closed her eyes and let it completely possess her as she counted out the intro and began. She started off with jazz, incorporating leaps and turns. She then flowed into ballet, her movements gentle and light. She abruptly switched to hip-hop, her style becoming jerky and strong. She transitioned into contemporary, painting a picture of the happiness she imagined if she were successful. Before she knew it, her final counts were over and she finished with her best move._

_When the music finished, she opened her eyes and was greeted by the smiling face of the blonde. "Well, we'll have to clean your moves up a bit, but that shouldn't be too hard." Tsunade glanced at the clipboard in her lap, then back up as she found what she was looking for. "Haruno Sakura, welcome to the Hokage dance team." _

Unwritten

"And you'll make sure to call us when you get settled in?" My mother asks for the fifteenth time (yes, I kept count) as I pull into the parking lot of the building that I had to drive almost five hours to reach.

"Yes Mom, okay? I've got to go now though. I'm here! Bye!" I hang up before she can get another word in. Normally I would feel bad about that, but I'm in a hurry. I've got a date with destiny at Konohagakure's prestigious one and only dance company. The Hakirikaeru Dance Academy is one of the best in the nation, headed by the choreographer and dance coach that everyone would KILL to train under (rumors were that someone actually hired a hit man), and home of the Hokage dance team.

The story is that the academy was this old mess of a building that was scheduled for demolition when Tsunade came in and transformed it into a twelve studio dance school, teaching every type of dance that you could think of, single or partner, with teachers from all over. Tsunade was already well known, because her sole student for the longest time, Shizune, was discovered at a music video audition about eight years ago, and is now the most sought after for lead dancing roles in movies and music videos all the time. Through Shizune, Tsunade became renowned, and she quickly gained her own fame. Due to that, hard core and wannabe dancers from near and far in the land of fire came crawling out of the wood work, doing whatever they could to get in and be supervised by Tsunade. That chaos happened five years ago, and the fame has been accumulating ever since. Six months ago, it was released that Tsunade was starting a dance team, and it started all over again. At the time that the academy opened, I was fourteen and we couldn't afford the classes, so I just continued to take the free classes in school and at our community center as I had for eight years before then. When I heard about the team, I immediately started getting information. Turns out that who ever made the team was required to move into the academy, which at some unknown point, Tsunade had added suites onto, with Shizune's help. The boarding is free, but food is individual responsibility. I could do that. Costumes would be provided for competitions, and it was up to everyone to see that they had appropriate wear for practice. All in all, it was very do-able for me. I talked to my parents, and though they were a little off put by the idea that should I make it, I'd be delaying college for a year, I made it a point that my odds of getting a scholarship for dance would triple if not quadruple, and then I could persue a major in medical science on the side.

Once I talked them into it, I began working my tail off for the the next five months, fine tuning my technique, perfecting my form, improving my flexibility and building my strength. Last month, I went to the audition, located at the academy, and as you can guess by the fact that I'm here again, I made it. So here I am, parked in the lot of the famous building. I heave a sigh and get out of my red 94 Dodge spirit, slipping my keys in my pocket and manually locking the driver's side door. I grab my suitcase and duffle from the backseat, lock that door and close it. After quickly making sure that all was secure, I took my first steps toward my temporary home, and my new life with a very optimistic outlook.

.x.X.x.

Upon my arrival, the secretary, Kurenai, I think her name was, whooshed me straight up to Tsunade...

_"Ah, Sakura, nice to see you." Tsunade greeted me as I entered her office. "Glad you made it here all right. There's not much for you to do today, until the rest of the team arrives. I will send word with the final arrival on when we will meet."_

_"Oh, am I the first to show?" I inquired._

_She shook her head as she looked down at her desk and began ruffling through papers in search of something. "No, two other girls and four of the boys are here as well..." She trails off. "Aha!" She exclaimed triumphantly, brandishing a piece of paper. She perused the sheet quickly, then opened a drawer in her desk, withdrawing a key chain with a silver key, a little ovalish grey thing, and a plastic rectangle with a piece of pink paper inside. "So as far as things go that you need to know right now, you are in the girls' apartment, on this floor, just take two lefts out that door. The silver key is for that. This grey one," She fingered it as she talked. "is a magnet key. Just hold it to the little black box next to the door at the end of the hall to your right and the door to the team's private studio will unlock. if you lose these keys, you will have to pay to replace them. It won't be cheap, I can tell you that." _

_I processed all the information a few times, and then nodded. "Got it."_

_"Good. I will go over all the rules when the whole team meets. You may go get settled in." _

_After being dismissed, I took the two lefts and quickly found my place. My jaw just about hit the floor when I entered, before I could even get a good look. I'm pretty sure that I felt a pop when I did see everything. It's huge and plush. Right inside the door, I am faced with a huge living room. The sun shines through the six windows located on the opposite cream colored wall. Those windows surround a seventy two inch plasma screen HD television, which is mounted above a tall, and very warm looking fireplace that had a DVD player resting on it. About four feet on either side, the walls angle, and three more feet, there are sliding glass doors that lead out onto little porches, with black circular tables that had matching umbrellas covering them, surrounded by black folding chairs. Next to the doors to the right of the fireplace was a little kitchen area, complete with an oven, beside it is a stove top built into the back granite counter, and on the other side of the counter, a double door fridge with freezer drawer. Located above the oven and fridge were cupboards for dry food storage. In between those cupboards were cabinets for storing dishes and glasses. At the edge of the tiled floor was a little island for serving, with a sink and dishwasher. On the sandy colored carpet was a mahogany table that would seat six comfortably, nine forcibly, surrounded by six matching chairs. A few feet behind the table was a black leather couch that I bet would seat five. On the sides of that were matching love seats, all surronding a little mahogany coffee table, directly in front of the fireplace. Opposite the kitchen, against the wall near the other sliding glass doors, was a tiny reading nook, and a sink. Around the corner from that was a tiny laundry room, and beside that was a decent sized coat closet. That was just the living area. On either side of the main double doors were matching single doors. After dropping my stuff behind the couch, I took the one on the right and opened it to reveal a little hallway. At the end of that hallway was another door, but in between the doors, to my left was another door. I opened it and found a bedroom with a double bed, with black comforter. To the right of the door was a bathroom with a toilet and shower on one side, and a bathtub and sink on the other. On one side of each bed was a little stand with a reading lamp that had an electrical outlet on top of the square base. At the end of the bed was a black painted dresser. At the end of the room was an air conditioner slash heater, underneath a giant window with a black curtains. I backed out of that room and went to the end of the mini hallway. I poked my head in the doorway to find another room that was almost exactly the same as the last. The only differences were that there were two beds and dressers, instead of a window at the other end, there were another set of sliding glass doors, leading out onto a small balcony, with the AC slash heater on the side, and the bathroom was straight ahead from the door. I went back into the main room, and through the other door, just to find that it was the exact same set up, flipped around. The only differences on this side were that both rooms had two beds and dressers, and in the room at the end of the hallway, there were two girls, one sitting on each bed. _

_"Oh! Hello." One of them greeted me. She had midnight colored chest length hair draped over her tiny shoulders, pearl white eyes and a cute smile. She wore a lilac shirt that had sleeves that cut off right at her elbows, and white shorts that cut off halfway to her knees, her white ballet flats neatly placed at the end of the bed._

_"Hiya!" The other one grinned. She had dark brown hair, tied up into two buns on her head, and chocolate eyes. Her clothes seemed darker than the other girl's in color, her shirt a white t-shirt and her pants a pair of maroon jeans, her black and white Vans discarded haphazardly at the end of the bed. _

_"Hey..." I waved halfheartedly, feeling a little self conscious in my red sleeveless shirt, dark blue jeans and black Airwalks. _

_The brown haired one sprung off the bed and walked over to me, holding her hand out. "I'm Tenten! Nice to meet ya!" I shook it gently._

_"Sakura." I smile. "Nice to meet you too." _

_The other girl got up and glided over. "My name is Hinata." _

_"Pleasure." I state. "So how long have you two been here?" _

_"About fifteen minutes." Tenten answered. Hinata nodded in agreement. At that moment, we heard the main door open, and a suitcase wheeled in. _

_I went back into the main room to find a tall platinum ponytailed blue eyed blonde girl wearing a purple crop top over a white tanktop with matching purple shorts and white flip flops gawking at the facility. Her head whipped over in my direction upon hearing my entrance. _

_"Hi!" She smiled widely. "I'm guessing that you three are some of the other dancers?" I glanced over my shoulder to see that Tenten and Hinata had follwed me in. We all nod. "Cool! I'm Ino!" _

_"Tenten." Tenten stated._

_"Hinata." Hinata murmured. _

_"Sakura." I muttered, not sure where the sudden surge of reluctance to talk came from._

_Ino frowned. "Well don't be shy now! We're all going to be friends in the long run I'm sure! We'll pretty much have to be, or I'm sure Tsunade wouldn't have a problem replacing anyone who doesn't work well with the rest of the team." We all glanced at each other, contemplating what she said. She had a point. We all need to at least get along to a normal degree. I've seen teams with really bad chemistry and their routines suffered. The better friends we become, the better our performances will be. "So... Have we established who's sleeping where?" _

_We shook our heads, and once again, we heard the door open. We turned around to see another blonde enter, this one with darker hair pulled into four ponytails and green eyes, modeling a grey version of Tenten's shirt over green and grey camo cargos with black Skechers, hauling a massive black suitcase. "Hey." _

_Ino gave a large smile. "Great! Now most of us are here! I'm Ino!" _

_The newcomer sighed as she hefted her luggage through the door. "Can we save the introductions for when we're all here? I'm not one to waste words." _

_"Okay..." Ino trailed off. "So, I heard that most of the boys were here, how much you wanna bet that they're hot?" _

_I didn't miss the sweat drop that the rest of us shared. _

_"So... We should probably figure out who's rooming with who..." Tenten suggested._

_"Shouldn't we wait for the last two arrivals?" Hinata pointed out._

_"Why?" Ino inquired. "Like I was saying earlier, if we want the team's chemistry to work, we've all got to get along, so it shouldn't matter who gets roomed with who. As long as we don't have two people wanting a room to themselves, we shouldn't have a problem." _

_I decided to speak up. "Well we should wait until we all know everyone's name at least. I mean how would you feel if you were one of the last to show up and you had to hear that who you were sharing a room with had already been decided without your input? Even if it shouldn't matter, that's kinda rude..." _

_The other yet to be named blonde shrugged. "Who cares? It's all going to work out in the end." She moved further into the suite and deposited her suitcase off to the side. _

_For the third time since I'd arrived, the door opened and a girl with long, dark brown (or is it black?) hair in a braid hanging on her left shoulder and dark green eyes, sporting a royal blue sleeveless shirt underneath a black crop jacket, with black sweats that cut off mid calf, and black and tan sandals walked in, a dark blue duffel bag hanging on her left shoulder with a small black suitcase in her right hand, and a purple backpack on her back. Those eyes tripled in size as she took in our living quarters. _

_"Holy mother of a..." She whispered as her gaze traveled around the room. It took her a minute to notice us. "Oh! Hi!" She gave a wry smile. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. I'm very unobservant. The name's Chii." _

_"Sak-" I started, but was cut off by the door opening once again. A red headed girl with scarlet eyes covered by black frame glasses, wearing a light purple button up shirt that looked to be a bit tight, black short shorts and knee high black boots entered. Her eyes raked over the main area in a short matter of time, and she smirked. Then she took a look at us, not saying a thing._

_"Um... Hi." Ino said._

_She appraised us emotionlessly before speaking. "Hi." _

_"Great! Now that everyone's here, we can learn everyone's names!" The blue eyed blonde smiled. "I'm Ino! Why don't we each say our favorite type of dance too? Just to get to know each other better? My favorites are ballet and hip-hop." She turned her head in my direction, inviting me to go next. _

_"I'm Sakura." I introduced myself apathetically at first, but then added a grin. "My favorites are jazz and contemporary." _

_I looked to my left, to see Hinata, who hadn't realized that it was her turn. _

_"Oh! I-I'm Hinata..." She squeaked upon catching our gazes. I raised an eyebrow, wondering where her sudden shyness came from. "I love ballet and contemporary..." _

_She whipped her head to the left, where Tenten was. _

_"Hey, I'm Tenten. My favorite is hip-hop." She, you can surely guess by this point, turned her head to the left, towards the unidentified other blonde. _

_"Temari. Hip-hop and jazz are my style." She smirked. I had a feeling that that would be the closest thing that we'd get to a smile out of her, until she knew us better. The next girl in line was Chii._

_"Chii, at your service." She raised a hand in greeting. "Hip-hop and contemporary are more my speed." _

_We all shifted our gazes to the red head. "...Karin." She spoke up. "Ballet and jazz." _

_Ino beamed. "Great! Well it's nice to meet all of you. So... How do we wanna decide rooms?"_

_"Well, there's only seven of us, and there are four rooms, three with two beds each and one with one bed." I informed the last four to arrive. "Does anyone really want a room to themselves?" _

_Karin pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I do." _

_The other girls shrugged, indicating that they didn't mind having a roommate. _

_"Okay. So two of the rooms have a balcony, and two of them just have windows. Who wants a balcony?" Tenten inquired. _

_"Oh! I do!" Ino jumped up sticking her hand in the air. _

_"I would like one too..." I commented. _

_Ino glanced over to me with a huge smile. "You wanna room with me then?" _

_I thought it over. She seemed like someone that I wouldn't have a problem getting along with. I give her a genuine smile. "Sure." _

_"I-I would l-like a balcony too..." Hinata timidly requested. _

_"I wouldn't mind having one as well." Tenten added, then espied Hinata. "You cool with rooming with me?" Hinata nodded. _

_Temari and Chii eyed each other, then simultaneously smirked. _

_"All right. This looks like it's gonna work out well." Temari stated..._

We worked all of that out about an hour ago, and then we all hauled our stuff into our rooms. Tenten and Hinata took the room that I had found them in on the far left. Temari and Chii took the one by them. That left Ino and I with the one on the far right and Karin with the remaining one by us.

All things considered, I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I can really see myself getting along with each of the girls, despite our different personalities. Only time will tell as we get to know each other.

A loud knocking resounds throughout our new home as I put my last article of clothing in the provided dresser.

"Wonder who that could be?" Ino states curiously.

"I don't know... Maybe it's someone from Tsunade. She told me that she was going to send a runner when everyone had arrived and the whole team would meet..." I ponder aloud.

The sound of feet running through the other side of the suite indicates that someone was going to answer it. The tell-tale noise of the door opening confirms that. A minute later, the door closes and the feet of whoever answered it run in the other direction. Another minute later, they come back this way. The footsteps near our room, stopping about halfway, probably by Karin's room, and then continue. I turn to face the doorway just as Chii pokes her head in.

"Hey, that was the guys. We're to get our butts over to the dance studio ASAP, Tsunade's orders." She quickly stated, before withdrawing and going back.

"Okay! Let's go meet us some boys!" Ino squeals at an inhuman decibel level. If that's a frequent occurance, we may have a problem.

"Yeah. Let's go." I smile wryly. I'm pretty excited to meet the guys to be honest, but not for the reasons that Ino is, I'm sure. The two of us walk out to the main part to see the other girls waiting for us.

"Everyone have their keys?" Tenten questions.

I check my pocket and then nod as do the rest. With that, we exit our quarters and walk to the dance studio. Temari waves her magnet key in front of the little black box which unlocks the door. Hinata twists the knob and pushes in, opening it to reveal the team's private practice and rehearsal room. It looks just like any other dance studio with the hardwood floor, the barre along the back wall as well as the mirror in the front, except twice as long. We all step in slowly and take it in, then change our focus to the boys who lean against the barre.

The first one I see has long dark brown hair that almost reaches his rear. He has the same white eyes as Hinata, except with a bit of a fire in them, much unlike her. He wears a white t-shirt over brown Levi's and black and white checkered Vans. I watch as Hinata walks over to and stands beside him.

The next guy I see has... white hair? That's strange, made even more so by the blue tint, but I really can't criticize since my hair is freaking PINK. His eyes are a nice purple, and as he smiles, I notice that his teeth are a little sharper than normal. He wears a sleeveless purple top, dark wash jeans and black Skechers. I have a feeling that he's going to be a rowdy one. He winks at me coyly.

I transfer my sight to the next boy, who is sitting on the ground. He has black hair that is pulled back into a high ponytail atop his head. He wears a dark grey shirt over green cargos, with grey flip flops. I hear a light, perturbed sigh from behind me and don't even have a chance to find out who it is when Chii passes me and goes to crouch in front of the male on the ground.

The next one in line is an insanely pale boy with jet black hair and black eyes wearing a black tanktop and black jeans with black shoes that I've never seen before. He is focused on a sketchbook that he holds in his hand.

Continuing down the line I see a red head. He has black rings around his eyes which are closed, showing his eyelids to be black as well. I can see a hint of something red on the left side of his forehead, but not the whole thing. He is donned with crimson sweats, a white tanktop and white Airwalks. A second before I finish looking him over, Temari pushes past me and strolls over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, causing him to open his eyes, revealing them to be aquamarine.

The next to last boy has this crazy spiky blond hair. He's turned toward the last guy, so I can't see his face. He wears a bright orange shirt and black skinny jeans with white tennis shoes. I try to see past him to the only member of the team that I hadn't seen yet, but can't. I side step toward the mirror, one foot at a time until I see him.

This one is similar in appearance to the one before the red head. He has jet black hair that utterly defies gravity in the back, resembling a duck's behind. I force myself to not laugh as that thought passes through my head. My gaze travels south to his... astonishingly chiseled face. His onyx orbs are focused on the blond in front of him. I continue to move downward to see his apparel, an open neck white long sleeve, which can't be that comfortable in the heat of the day, black skinny jeans, and black sandals. I go back to his face and take a second to appreciate the view, when in an instant, his eyes connect with mine. He smirks like he just caught me doing something bad, and goes back to focusing on the person in front of him.

For some inexplicable reason, that irritates me. I scowl, and contemplate going over there to tell him off, when the studio door opens and the lady that we have all sold our souls to strides in. It goes without saying that all attention was instantaneously on her.

"Hello everyone." She greets with a wan smile. "Congratulations on being here right now, because that means that I have found something in you that I believe will be an asset to the team, such as your drive..." She acknowledges the blond boy who has turned to face her. "Or your talent..." Her amber eyes travel over most of the team. "Or your potential." At this she nods in my direction. "Now from here on out, I expect you to give this everything you've got, and then some. All right, everyone against the back!"

The few of us who aren't all ready there hurry over. I tack myself on at the end, next to the guy with hair like a duck's butt.

"Hm." I glance over to see him smirking at me again. What's with him? Just brush it off, Sakura...

"Good. Now we need to get to know each other. The best teams are the ones with good relationships. We'll start by the door." She indicates the other end, where Hinata is, before pulling a remote out of her pocket and pressing a button. A heavy drum beat pervades the room. "I want to hear your name, and see a short series of movements that expresses you. Go!"

Hinata takes on a doe eyed anxious look, before visibly swallowing. "I-I'm Hyuuga Hinata." She says barely above a whisper.

"Louder!" Tsunade commands.

"Hyuuga Hinata!" The midnight haired girl exclaims. She takes a few steps forward, away from the barre and does a pirouette into an arabesque into a walkover. She's really flexible and lithe from what I can see. She returns to the barre.

The boy next to her clears his throat. "Hyuuga Neji." He announces loud and clear, before walking forward a few steps, doing a chaine into a lunge then a pirouette with his hands out. I can tell that he's a powerful one. He moves back to the barre quickly.

The next one in line is the white haired boy. He grins, flashing his abnormally sharp teeth. "Hozuki Suigetsu." He proceeds to step forward a few paces and then breaks into a wickedly fast hip hop combo, before finishing up with a slide on the floor. He suavely slides back into his place. Well he's definitely smooth, I'll give him that.

Next up is Karin who I notice has removed her boots. "Karin." She smirks and struts forward like a model on the runway, before doing a double fouette followed by a double stag leap, and then a double chaine. She struts back to her position beside Suigetsu. I'm getting a pretty confident if not borderline snobby vibe from her.

Chii is next. She stands up and brushes some loose hairs out of her face. "Kihara Chii." She takes a couple of counts before chasseing forward a bit and then cartwheeling, turning back using a rond de jamb en dehors and ending with a fan kick. She appears to have good control.

The boy she was sitting by rises lazily. "Nara Shikamaru." He sighs. Okay... If he's so obviously lazy, what the heck is he doing here? He takes a step forward and does some killer pop n' lock and jerking. So that's what he's doing 'll be great in our hip-hop routines.

"Yamanaka Ino." My roommate calls out as the boy before her goes back to sitting on the ground. She starts out with a chasse as Chii had, then performs a tour jete, getting good air. As soon as she lands, she demi plies in third position and grand jetes back. She's really graceful, and I can tell that everyone will be looking at her in our ballet routines.

Tenten follows with a step out of line. "Tenten." She declares. She continues to walk forward with her hands in her pockets, then jumps, putting her feet to the sides. Her hands slide out of their places and ball into fists as she dips, and pounds the ground. She lifts her torso back up, and jumps again, bringing her feet together, and drops to one knee, keeping the other leg bent and straight out in front of her. She opens that to the side and back to the front. She then straightens it and drags herself forward with the heel. She shifts her weight forward, tucks the toes of the foot attched to her supporting leg under, and shifts her weight back, pushing that foot to the ground. Finally she body rolls up, and... MOONWALKS?! Yes! She moonwalks back to her spot. Wow. That is going to kill at competitions.

Beside her is the freakishly pale guy with the sketchbook (which he has set down). He smiles, which is a little creepy, then speaks. "Sai." He doesn't even take a step before handspringing forward and turning as he drops to the ground, putting most of his weight on his arms as he sweeps his right leg around, his left leg hopping over it, and stopping in plank position. He lowers himself to the ground and rolls onto his back, brings his legs up together, and jumps to his feet. Whoa... He's got some amazing power. He gives us that creepy smile again as he returns.

The red head with the tanuki rings around his eyes (which are still open) mumbles.

"What was that?" Tsunade questions demandingly.

"Gaara." He speaks up, appearing slightly irritated. He moves forward, treading lightly before doing some quick but fancy footwork. He sticks a hand out in front of him and demi plies before pirouetting, closing that hand into a fist as he goes. He stops in fourth and jetes back. I can see that he has untapped potential. He's quick, that's for sure.

Temari stares at him with approval, before taking her turn. "Temari." She smirks. She goes up on the balls of her feet and does a few triplets forward, before doing a triple pirouette, succeeded by a one handed cartwheel, then a tuck jump and completed with a fan kick. She's fast in her movements, and well controlled.

Up next is the blond who's face that I couldn't see before. I can now see his blue eyes that are as sparkly as Ino's, the whisker like markings on his cheeks, and his smile that I swear could outshine the sun. "Uzumaki Naruto!" He bolsters. He steps forward, then goes into a handstand. He immediately takes one hand off of the ground and grabs the corresponding leg behind his back. With a twist, he lands on his back on the floor with a thud. I wince but it doesn't slow him down. He brings his legs up like Sai did, but keeps going. He shoulder rolls to his feet and hops back up with a huge grin. Two words come to mind with him: wild and reckless. They can help us with our overall energy or they can hurt us if he slips. Odds are that he'll be taking more than just himself down.

The penultimate person is the guy who caught me staring at him. "Uchiha Sasuke." He states blandly. He turns around to face the barre. Our eyes make contact and he smirks at me again. I divert my eyes to the side, bringing them back to catch the end of his back handspring. He pops his feet out to the side at the end, step ball changes, then crouches down. He sweeps with his left leg and pops back up. He then lunges with his right leg, bounces back up, and jumps into a handstand. He pushes off the floor and lands on his feet. He's good with the acrobatics, and he knows it.

He smirks at me for the third time as he comes back to his spot beside me. "Top that." He mutters lowly enough that I'm sure that I'm the only one who can hear him. Jerk.

"I'll do my best." I retort as quietly as he challenged. I step forward. "Haruno Sakura." I call loud enough for everyone to hear. I wait a second to get the beat, before twirling toward the mirror. I do a one handed cartwheel out of that, and land right into my right splits. Eat that Uchiha. I dive to the left, swinging my left leg over my right and bring it all the way around so that I'm back in my right splits, but facing the opposite direction. I lean forward onto my hands and brush my right leg back so I'm in a seal stretch. I push back onto my knees, then rock forward into a chest stand. My toes touch the floor before I pull back, tucking my feet under and standing up. I use the momentum to push upward into a toe touch. I glance at the raven haired boy to see his smirk still intact from before. I try not to frown as I glide back to my place. "How was that?" I whisper.

"Not bad Haruno, but you've got a long way to go." He chuckles lightly.

I scowl. Who the heck does this guy think he is? I'm brought out of my irritation by applause. Tsunade's to be specific.

"Very good all of you. I can see where your strengths and weaknesses lie." She comments. "But you've reminded me what I saw in you at your audition. This is going to be a great year. Tomorrow we will meet again and figure out partners."

My eyes enlarge. PARTNERS? She didn't say anything about partner dancing! I've never danced with a partner before! Just as my heart sinks, Uchiha chuckles.

"Something wrong Haruno? Let me guess: You don't know how to dance with a partner." He haughtily but correctly assumes.

I don't know why, but from the moment we first made eye contact, this guy has rubbed me the wrong way, and now he's making it worse. I'm not going to let him get to me though. I do my best to imitate his annoying smirk. "No way Uchiha. I'm just thinking how much fun this is going to be."

"Hn." He responds, if that can even be counted as a response.

Tsunade releases us and we head back to our rooms. I can just imagine what this year will be like...

Then again, I've never had a wild imagination.

**There you have it. I hope this chapter has pulled you in enough that you can wait a bit for the next. I actually have the next three and a half chapters completed and edited to the extent of my abilities, but I'm testing the waters to see who wants it. I can post the next chapter any time, but let's see if I can score three reviews, shall we? Three reviews or two weeks, whichever comes first. That will give me time to get more chapters written and hopefully gain some motivation. My deep dark secret is that I've had this chapter done for at least six months and have left it, hoping to get most of the story done before posting, but my inspiration is dying and I'm becoming rather apathetic about writing, so we'll see where this takes me. **

**I hope that this chapter has at least made you crack a smile. Give me feedback on what you like and don't like and if you want to see something happen, I'm taking suggestions to fill some holes and if I take your idea to put in a later chapter, you'll get a special mention as well as dedication. **

**For now my fellows in fan fiction, sayonara! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so this is where things start to jump around. I'm going to start including everyone on the team's point of view, starting with our two leads. **

**See the first chapter for pairings, disclaimer, etc.**

**DEDICATION: This one goes out to Sayomi-hime, who is my sole reviewer of the first chapter. May you ghost readers who have put this on your favorites and alerts be motivated to review as well.**

**...I think that's all for the preemptive author's note. Enjoy! **

**Sakura's POV**

"Okay, then you dive through to the left, er Chii... For you it would be to the right... Not through the center." I instruct. It's five o' clock and we're back in the main area of our suite, and I'm trying to teach Ino, Chii and Hinata my split roll move. "Great Hinata. Now you bring your back leg around, bend it at the knee, using it to turn you so that you face the opposite direction from where you started." I give them a second. "You've got it Ino! Now do it a few more times to get into it." I supervise as they keep going through it.

"So... quick question." Tenten says from her seat on the couch. "How do you guys know some of those guys?"

"Family, at least for me." Temari states from beside Tenten. "Gaara's my brother."

"Same here." Chii adds as she finishes her roll. "Shika's my brother, but I'm adopted."

"Neji's my cousin." Hinata explains as she does the same.

"That's cool." I respond. I've always wanted a sibling, or even a close cousin would be nice. They nod in response.

Ino breaks out in a feral grin. "Those boys are pretty dang good looking. Especially that Sasuke."

I roll my eyes. "He's pretty conceited if you ask me."

"Well we're not asking." Karin quips as she files her nails on one of the love seats.

"Are you always like this, or is there something special about us?" Temari inquires.

Karin frowns and blows the filings off of her hand. "I have no clue what you mean."

Ino rolls her eyes. "At least we know that it's not personal."

"So what did you all think of the boys?" Chii inquires, and at Ino's expression adds, "I mean their skills, Ino."

I quietly laugh as I see Ino's sails deflate. "Most of them have some killer power, like Neji, Sai and Sasuke." I input.

Hinata nods. "Gaara and Suigetsu were really fast." She adds.

"Naruto and Shikamaru had some good moves." Temari comments.

"All in all, I can definitely see why Tsunade picked them." Tenten observes. "We're going to be one of the teams to beat for sure."

Karin scoffs. "That's given. We were selected by Tsunade for crying out loud. We're not some class of newbies, just starting out. We've all got experience, right? I was on my high school drill team for all three years and I've been dancing a heck of a lot longer than that."

Ino nods. "Cheerleader for six years. Head cheerleader my last two because I was the best dancer. I've been at this since I was three."

"I've been taking classes since I was three as well..." Hinata explains.

"Same here. I've been hip-hopping since I could move my body parts by myself." Tenten chuckles.

"I've done a little bit of everything at some point or another in high school. Classes and clubs... I learned three or four styles at once and they bled into each other, so I picked it up pretty fast and got pretty good even though I've only been at this for three or four years." Chii trails off.

"I've only been at it a few years too. The dance studio in my hometown was built about three or four years ago, and I didn't start dancing until a few months after that, and my teacher says I'm a natural." Temari tells us.

"I've been doing community and school classes since I was six." I say, feeling relieved that I'm not the only one who hasn't been doing this since she before she could walk, or immediately after.

"So we're all clearly good and know what we're doing." Karin finalizes. I quirk an eyebrow slightly. So she is just confident. I was beginning to think that she was a major snob.

"Well said." Ino smiles.

"Agreed." The rest of us concur.

"Anyway... I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting hungry. Everyone wanna chip in five bucks and two of us can make a food run?" Temari suggests.

"That sounds fantastic." Tenten voices. "I'm starving."

"What do we want to eat?" Ino asks.

"Anything but pizza, I beg of you." Chii pleads.

"I'm in the mood for a taco salad." Karin puts in.

"That sounds good." Hinata agrees. "We could go to the grocery store and buy some lettuce, cheese, a few pounds of hamburger, those bowls made out of the shells, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream and guacamole then bring it all back here and make it how we like it."

My mouth begins to water right away. "Great idea. It sounds amazing..."

"Okay, what do we want to drink?" Ino questions.

"Milk would go really well with this, and it would be a good supplement for our health and strength." Chii poses.

"That works great." Temari smiles. "Now the question is, who's going to get it?"

We all glance at each other.

"I'll go I guess." Chii concedes. "Who wants to tag along?"

"...I will." Hinata says.

"Okay. We've got to go downstairs and knock on the boys' door so I can get the keys from Shikamaru." Chii smiles.

Hinata nods.

"Hey..." Ino pipes up with a grin. "Let's invite the guys to come eat with us! We want to get to know each of them since we could get paired with any of them..."

"She makes a good point..." Tenten points out. "I would like to know a little bit about my partner."

"I agree." Karin adds.

Ino adopts a Cheshire smile. "So it's settled! Chii and Hinata, you send them up and we'll entertain them until you get back!"

Chii laughs dryly. "Fine, but just a warning, if the rest of them are at all like Shikamaru, you will strike out pretty darn fast. Ready to go Hinata?"

Hinata nods and the two of them get up and walk out, slipping on their shoes as they go.

.xXx.

**Sasuke's POV**

"...So. Who liked what girl? That Hinata is adorable and Sakura is hot!" Naruto asks with an annoying smile.

I have to say that he is the most loud and annoying idiot that I have ever met. Just like the other guys take first in their own respective categories. If I had known how things would have gone when we all got here, I would have stayed away a bit longer...

_I entered the designated suite for the guys after my brief welcoming in Tsunade's office. I looked around, appraising the quarters which I had heard were exactly like the girls'. They weren't bad... I finished wheeling my stuff in and dropped it a little ways away from the door. I walked over to the black leather couch and sat down, resting my head on the back, closing my eyes. My relaxed moment was short lived however, as the door opened again and I heard a grunt as a massive suitcase was hauled in. Then for a moment, all was silent._

_"...HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP! THIS PLACE IS HUGE!" Whoever just showed up exclaimed. _

_I didn't move as I listened to their footsteps run down a hallway, then back and down the other hallway, then back again. The footsteps started in my direction, getting closer and closer, then stopped. The next thing I registered was warm air on my face. I had let it continue for a few more seconds, before slowly opening my eyes. The sight to greet me was that of a blond, blue eyed, tanned guy._

_"Hi!" He grinned._

_I reached a hand up and not so gently pushed his face out of mine. "Hn. Haven't you ever heard of personal space?" _

_He ignored my question and kept grinning. "I'm Naruto!" _

_I closed my eyes once again. "Hn. Sasuke." _

_"Nice to meet ya! So we're the only ones here, right?"_

_I graced him with a slight nod. _

_"Sweet! We get first dibs on rooms then!" My sense of personal space restored as I heard him take off. My first thought: Peace and quiet is going to become a foreign concept around here. _

_The door opened again and someone with a steady stride strolled in. I still didn't look. They set their stuff down and kept moving in my direction, not stopping. They walked around the couch that I was resting on and sat down on the neighboring love seat, if the sound from the leather was any indication. They didn't say anything, and that was fine with me. _

_I had no clue how much time had passed before another entrance was heard. This person was also quiet as they set their stuff down and sauntered over to take up the other love seat. Again, this was fine by me. _

_Not too long after that, another one arrived. He was only slightly noisier than the other two as he heaved a heavy sigh when he dropped his stuff off and muttered under his breath as he came over and sat on the opposite end of the couch. _

_It felt like awhile before the next one came in. From his gait, I could already tell that we had another loud one. He literally dropped his stuff, not at all quietly, and strutted over. "Hey guys!" He didn't receive an answer. "Okay..." _

_He didn't sit down, rather turned around and went down one of the hallways. Six down, one more to go. I just hope that he's on the calm side. I revelled in the peace for another while before the last one showed. _

_A little too soon for my liking, the final guy on the team arrived. He gently set his luggage down by the rest of ours from the sound of it and swiftly made his way over. "Hello." _

_I lightly sighed and opened my eyes to see a... whoa... guy who looked like my doppelganger, with slightly paler skin and a freakishly creepy smile, standing on my left. His hair was jet black as were his eyes. _

_Once I was done looking at him, I glanced around at the rest, my eyes resting on the guy in the chair to my left. He's got abnormally long (for a guy) brown hair and shockingly white, pupil-less eyes. I look to the opposite seat to see a red head with blue-green, black rimmed eyes and red hair. The one on the other end of the couch had black hair and dark green eyes. _

_"So, since I was informed that I was the last one, should we all introduce ourselves?" My copy suggests, smile intact. _

_At that point, the two missing men rejoined the group. _

_"Hey, you're all awake!" Naruto laughed. He was accompanied by a guy with light blue hair and purple eyes. _

_"Yeah, yeah. We're awake." The boy on my right grumbles._

_"Great! Let's get going on learning everyone's names! Tsunade-baachan told me we'd get to meet the girls later." The blond boasted. "I'm Naruto!" _

_The white haired one spoke up next. "Suigetsu, at your service." _

_My doppelganger was up next. "You can call me Sai." _

_It continue going clockwise, so the long haired guy was next. "...Neji." _

_We all looked over at the red head. "Gaara." _

_Ponytail sighed like the whole thing was an exhausting effort. "Shikamaru." _

_Everyone was staring at me. "Hn. Sasuke." _

_"Great, now that we know all the guys, when do we get to meet the girls?" Suigetsu (I think), grinned ferally. _

_"Actually, we're supposed to go to the studio now, and stop and inform the girls on the way." Sai (How the heck can he keep up that smile?) answered._

_No one moved for a minute. "Oh come on dudes!" Naruto pushed, almost whining. "Let's go! If we're not there when Tsunade-baachan is, she'll get us but good! And don't you want a chance to scope out the girls?" That didn't make us move any faster. _

_"...I hate to say it Naruto, but I'd bet good money that you and I are the only non-asexual guys in here. Five bucks says that each of these guys has a tree growing in their uptight rear ends." _

_This earned a glare from those of us who were sitting down. _

_"What would you know?" Shikamaru growled. _

_"You know Suigetsu, I put ten down that they aren't Asexual, they're just HOMOsexual, but you're probably right about that tree thing." Naruto chuckled._

_"Hey!" Sai frowned. "I am not gay." _

_"Neither am I." Neji voiced._

_"Tch. I'm into girls." Shikamaru scoffed._

_Gaara nodded in agreement. _

_"Hn. You losers are just projecting yourselves onto us." I backhanded. _

_Naruto and Suigetsu each raised an eyebrow. _

_"Well I for sure don't swing that way." Naruto claimed._

_"Same here man. I'm as straight as a one hundred yard line." Suigetsu added. "But if you guys are so sure, then prove it. I dare you guys to each find a girl that you think is attractive. We'll do it too..." _

I so could have avoided all of that. Now we are being held to that dare, back in our lodgings, an hour or so after that meeting ended. "That Karin chick was kinda hot." Suigetsu smirks. "Now to figure out who was checking out who... I was right by Neji over here, and I caught him looking at that hip-hop girl. She is pretty sweet."

"...That blonde girl, the lighter haired one, looked really pretty..." Sai (as you can guess) smiles.

Naruto raises his fist in the air. "Yeah Sai! Anyone else want to be a man and fess up?" No one does. "Hmph. Fine you wusses." He begins chuckling. "It's not like we didn't catch some lingering glances... Especially from Sasuke over here. You are sooo digging that Sakura. I heard you flirting as well as I saw it!"

This gets my attention and I send him a smaller version of my patented Uchiha glare. "Then you must be blind AND deaf. You're such a dobe."

He returns my glare. "Yeah well you're a teme!"

"Tch. Knock it off you two. Listening to you fight is such a drag." Shikamaru complains. The dobe opens his mouth in protest, but is cut off by a knock at the door.

We all glance around.

"Who could that be? We're all here..." Sai voices our thoughts.

Suigetsu dons an excited grin. "Five bucks it's the girls!" He calls as he bolts toward the door at top speed. It becomes utterly silent as he opens it. "Well hello there."

"Um... Hi. Suigetsu, right?" A slightly timid voice greets.

"Yeah. Nice of you to remember..." Oh Kami... I can just see the look on his face.

"Um, don't mention it I guess... Can you get Shikamaru for me?"

The mentioned's eyes open. "Mendokusei..." He mumbles as he rises from the couch.

"Oh. He's busy at the moment. Is there anything I can do for you?" Suigetsu presses.

"Out of the way." Shikamaru growls as he stalks over tiredly. "What is it Chii?"

"I need the keys to the car. Food run." She replies. He groans as the jingling of car keys is heard. "Thanks Shika. Oh, and we were wondering if you guys wanted to come up for dinner. We're making taco salad."

I don't have to look to see the expressions on Naruto and Suigetsu. Shikamaru turns back to us. "What do you guys think?"

"Yeah!" Naruto hollers. Even with the distance between us, my ears hurt.

"That does sound nice. We can get better acquainted." Sai inputs.

Neji stays silent, as do Gaara and I.

Suigetsu chuckles and pushes his way around Shikamaru. "We'll be there. When should we come up?"

"Well, you guys can go up now if you want, the rest of the girls will be there, and Hinata and I will be back with the supplies shortly." The same girl answers. Neji becomes attentive at Hinata's name.

"Great. We'll go up there then and see you when you get back." The purple eyed boy responds, sounding suspiciously flirtatious.

"Back off." Shikamaru orders. "See you there." He shuts the door the second the last word leaves his mouth.

"Aw man! You totally blew it! She's into me, I can tell." Suigetsu complains.

"Leave her alone. She gets into enough trouble without a boy making it worse." The green eyed guy snaps.

"The same thing goes for Hinata-sama." Neji adds. "Stay away."

"Dudes! What gives you the right to tell us what girls we can and can't go after?" Naruto protests.

Neji scowls at the blond. "I have been entrusted with Hinata-sama's safety. I will not let anyone who is only interested in her looks get anywhere near her."

"And if anything happens to Chii, I'll never hear the end of it from our mom." Shikamaru states.

The room is silent again. We're actually getting more quiet time than I expected.

"...Are you related?" Sai inquires.

"Yes. Hinata-sama is my cousin." White eyes answers.

"Chii is my adopted sister." Ponytail says.

"Oh... Makes sense why you guys are so protective then." Naruto frowns. "But don't they get a say in this? You can't stop them from being interested in guys." Neji and Shikamaru both shake their heads.

"Hinata-sama is so shy. I have no worries." Neji informs with a hint of a smirk.

Shikamaru nods. "Chii doesn't know how to be more than friends with guys."

"Think about it though." Suigetsu chuckles. "They are going to get partnered with one of us tomorrow and they will have to trust their partner and get comfortable with him. That is going to eliminate the shyness factor... Unless you plan to challenge Tsunade on her decision if you two aren't partnered with them." The two security guards pale slightly. "That could open doors and they may start double-taking on us."

"...There are other girls. Go harass them." Shikamaru grumbles.

Suigetsu and Naruto sigh and shake their heads.

"So shall we go up?" Sai asks.

.xXx.

**Ino's POV**

"...So when do you think they'll get here?" I ask the girls for... how many times was it?... from my position on the floor.

"We don't know!" Temari, Sakura and Tenten chorus from the couch. Karin remains calm as she paints her nails in one of the love seats.

"Ten bucks says that it'll be before you ask again." The red head wagers.

I raise an eyebrow. "That's pretty risky, voicing that bet with me right here. I'm going to take it. Oh, and when do you-" I'm cut off by knocking on the door.

My jaw pops as it drops. "No way!"

Karin just smirks.

Tenten gets up and walks over to grant entrance to the seven males. They file in, three of them with smiles, four with no expression at all.

"Pay up." Karin chuckles.

I pout. "No way you could have known!"

She just smiles mischievously and holds the hand that she's finished working on out. I grumble and complain under my breath as I fork over two fives. My frown quickly flips into a smile as the guys approach. "Hey!"

"Hi there!" The only blond grins. "It's so cool of you guys to invite us over."

"Well, we figured that we'd see to it that everyone got a decent meal before the constant junk food and take out invasion began." Temari sighs.

"How kind." The blue haired one smiles.

"Well have a seat." I invite.

They look around for seats before slipping in wherever they can.

"...So. Let's see if I've got names right..." Sakura speaks up. She begins pointing to the boys who I'm identifying by hair and eye color.

"Sai." Black hair, black eyes.

"Suigetsu." White hair, purple eyes.

"Neji." Brown hair, white eyes.

"Gaara." Red hair, aqua eyes.

"Naruto." Blond hair, blue eyes.

"Shikamaru." Black hair, green eyes.

"Sasuke." Black hair, black eyes.

The boys all nod. Wow. She's good... I hope I can remember all of their names.

Naruto grins. "Awesome! You're Sakura, right?" My roommate nods. "Nice! My turn!" He begins pointing us out as he says our names. "Sakura, Temari, Tenten, Karin and Ino. Chii and Hinata were the ones getting the food."

He got us all right. Impressive.

"Way to go." Tenten congratulates. Naruto mock bows, earning a chuckle from me and Sakura. Silence settles in awkwardly.

"...This is a bit awkward isn't it?" Sai says with a smile. "Why don't we think of something to do?"

"I've got a few card decks if anyone has any games in mind." Temari offers.

Naruto suddenly looks awfully mischievous. "How many?"

"Six or seven." She answers.

"Let's play BS."

The silence settles in again, but it's not awkward this time. It's contemplative.

"Why not?" Tenten shrugs. "We can all crowd around the table."

"I've never heard of this game." Suigetsu states.

"What? You've never played BS?" I ask incredulously. "It's only one of the most entertaining card games in the world!"

He shrugs in indifference. "I haven't played cards much. So how do we play?"

"It's easy." Sakura begins. "We all sit around the table with a stack of cards. The cards are dealt out to each person until the stack is gone. We organize our hands, typically by numerical order, and then the person to the left of the dealer starts by laying all of the aces in their hand face down. After they do that, anyone else can call BS if they think they're lying. If they lied, they have to take their cards back. Later, as more people lay down, they have to take the whole pile. If they didn't lie, the accuser must take the pile. Then it continues on, the next person putting down all the two's they have, the next is three's and so on. The object of the game is to empty your hand."

"Oh, I get it. How do we tell when they're lying though?" Sai questions.

"That's the trick." Naruto grins. "You don't, unless you're amazing at reading poker faces, they have a bad poker face, or for example, you're only playing with one deck, which means four of each card, they say that they're putting down two of a card and you have three of that card. There's only four but what they say and what you have make five. It's impossible, right?"

"And you have to throw cards down every time, right?" Suigetsu voices.

"Yeah, unless you are willing to just roll over and pick up the pile. Not a viable option once the game gets going." Temari chuckles.

"So who all wants to play?" I throw out.

"I'm in!" The purple eyed boy smiles, giving us all a good look at his sharp teeth.

"It sounds like fun. I'll play too." Sai smiles somewhat creepily.

"Count me in." Tenten says.

"Same." Temari, Karin, Sakura and I chime.

"It was my idea, so you bet I want to." Naruto beams.

"...Hn. I'll play." Sasuke speaks for the first time since they got here.

Neji just nods.

"I guess we don't have much of an option." Shikamaru sighs.

Gaara doesn't do anything. Temari sends a glance his way, which I'm assuming he caught since he nods.

"Okay, so that's twelve... We need four decks." The sandy blonde girl states as she gets up and runs to her shared room. She returns a minute later with four standard card decks.

We all migrate to the table, managing to fit miraculously, by pulling out the seven chairs and kneeling.

Temari removes the cards from their cardboard cases and quickly shuffles them, then deals them out like she'd been doing it her whole life.

"Dang, you're pro!" Naruto compliments. Temari smirks. Everyone gathers their cards and begins organizing them. We all look to the person on Temari's left, who happens to be her brother Gaara.

"Three aces." He says as he lays three cards face down in the middle. Next is Sasuke.

"Hn. Five twos." He lays down the five cards. To his left is Naruto.

"Two threes." He grins as he puts them down. Hm... If he keeps that face everytime he lays down, he's going to be tough to read.

I'm up next. I remove the fours from my hand and add them to the pile. "Four fours."

Sakura is beside me. "Seven fives."

"One six." Sai smiles. Hm... another tough one. I have a feeling that everyone here has a pretty good poker face. It's the ones that smile that I'm worried about.

"Nine sevens." Tenten monotones. Interesting... I didn't peg her as a straight faced girl.

"Six eights." Karin sighs.

"Eight nines." Neji deadpans.

"Two tens." Suigetsu smirks.

"Three jacks." Shikamaru yawns.

"Seven queens." Temari smirks.

"One king." Gaara's voice stays low and monotonous as he completes the cycle. We make it around two more times without anyone calling.

"Four aces." I say, this time deciding to use a cheer facial, complete with wink to throw everyone off. I'm actually lying, I only have one ace, but I figure I can get away with throwing down one of three different numbers.

"...BS." Shikamaru calls, looking straight at me. I do my best to not flinch and show him that he's right. Instead I focus on raising my eyebrows challengingly.

"Are you sure about that?" I question. He nods and flips my cards over.

"Your voice went up in pitch when you said aces." He explains at my dumbfounded expression.

I frown, then admit defeat as I take the pile. I look at the cards and sigh. "At least most of them are in order. Hardly anyone has lied." I add them to my current hand.

It's peaceful and relaxing for about ten more minutes as the pile grows again. It's gotten pretty big and it's now Naruto's turn.

"Three eights." He says with his usual smile, but I'm sure that I'm not the only one who didn't miss the almost imperceptible twitch of his lip. That little liar...

"BS." Tenten calls, reaching for the pile. We all stare in curiosity as she flips over the top three cards to find... three eights. She immediately becomes the poster child for utter shock and indignation.

"WHAT?! THERE'S NO WAY YOU COULD FAKE THAT TWITCH!" She hollers at the blond across the table from her who is just laughing his head off.

She growls and grumbles as she picks up the pile. She doesn't get a chance to reorganize her hand however, as we hear a key turning in the door. It opens a crack and we hear the rustling of plastic grocery bags. A minute later, the door swings open and our missing girls walk in, decked out with the groceries.

Chii smiles. "Hey everyone, what's up?"

"Naruto just totally schooled Tenten in BS." I chuckle, receiving a glare from the mentioned brunette.

Hinata giggles.

"Nice." Chii laughs as the two walk over to the kitchenette and put everything down.

"Well, now that food is here, we don't need to play anymore." Tenten says and puts her cards down, getting up and going over to help get stuff out. Sakura, Karin and I follow her lead.

"Okay, so who's going to do what?" Karin questions.

"Well, we need someone to cook the meat, someone to pour the drinks, probably two people to put everything into bowls..." Hinata lists quietly, but loudly enough for us to hear.

"I'll cook the meat." Sakura volunteers, going to the stove and opening up the drawer underneath it and removing a frying pan. "Thanks to Tsunade for providing all of this." She flips the switch to turn on one of the burners and sets the skillet down. She turns around and hold her hand out. "Meat please."

Chii grabs the packaged beef and gently tosses it.

Temari comes over a second later. "I think Chii and Hinata deserve a break since they got the stuff. It's only fair."

The rest of us nod in agreement and shoo the dark haired girls out of the kitchen.

"I'll get the drinks when the meat is done." Tenten states, putting the milk in the fridge.

"I'll cut up the lettuce and tomatoes." Temari claims, going over to the sink and washing her hands.

I look to Karin. "I guess that leaves us to get everything set out." I go to the sink and wash my hands, and as soon as I'm done, am followed by the red head. I make for the cupboard and get three bowls, setting them out on the counter. Karin is right behind me pouring cheese in one. I get the sour cream and pop the lid, and repeat the actions with the guacamole, resting them side by side. Karin gets the salsa and unscrews the lid, putting it next to the others. It's not long before Temari comes over with the diced tomatoes and lettuce and puts them in their respective dishes. My eyes wander to the living room where the boys are along with Chii and Hinata. Chii is smiling and poking Shikamaru, who appears highly annoyed, but it doesn't seem to deter her. Hinata is sitting politely by Neji, staring straight ahead, not saying a word. Naruto and Suigetsu are conversing, glancing around at each of the others. Naruto's eyes scan over them, then dart over to the rest of us girls. We make eye contact and he blushes and looks away. I laugh under my breath. He goes back to talking intently with Suigetsu who I am sorely tempted to refer to as Sharky.

"All right, the meat is done." Sakura announces a little while later. She gets a hot pad from the drawer beside the stove (how does she know where everything is?) and lays it on the counter, putting the pan on top of it. Tenten is on top of pouring the milk as soon as Sakura has moved out of the way, throwing plastic cups down and spilling the white liquid into each one.

I bust out the shells and set them on top of the packaging. "Whoo!" I cheer and turn to face the main area. "Come and get it!"

"All right!" Naruto and Suigetsu chorus, jumping up and running over in a flash.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Suigetsu suddenly shouts, freezing, holding a hand out to stop Naruto. "The ladies made this for us, we should let them go first." He made a very gentleman-ly gesture toward us, offering us a chance to go before them.

I smile and chuckle then accept. Temari rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a smile and does the same. Karin looks Suigetsu over appraisingly as she steps in front of him. Sakura smiles approvingly as she takes her place.

"Nice to find some guys with manners!" Tenten laughs as she falls in line.

We all look over to the remaining two females.

"C'mon you two!" Sakura calls over.

The emerald and pearl eyed girls got up and quickly hurry over, mumbling thanks to Sharky (yes I did!) as they fall in. After they join, the rest of the guys get up and shuffle over, and I don't mean LMFAO shuffle.

I grab a shell bowl and start fill it up, then take a cup of milk at the end and take a seat on the couch. The others soon join me, filling up the rest of the furniture and pulling up chairs from the table, making it so none of us have to sit on the floor.

"So... What does everyone think of it here?" Naruto attempts at starting a conversation.

"It's pretty awesome isn't it?" Suigetsu puts in.

"It's cool how we have enough rooms so that we aren't crowded, and then we have this area to spread out." Sakura comments.

"Well and we have the easy access to the studio to go practice..." Hinata notes.

"Speaking of that... What do you think of the whole partner deal? I've never danced with a partner before." I admit. That's what happens when most of your experience is in cheerleading on a squad that's all girls.

"It's really not that hard." Neji speaks up. "You just have to learn to read each other's movements."

"And trust your partner to support you." Chii adds. "Especially if you're doing lifts."

"Like ballet lifts?" Tenten prods.

"Swing dance too. Those are just as hard." Shikamaru contributes to the subject.

"Don't forget dips. It may not be as far a fall, but it still hurts if you get dropped on your head." Temari chuckles.

"Hn. Trust has nothing to do with it. You either know whether your partner can hold you up or you don't. If you don't, find a new partner." Sasuke bluntly states.

Sakura's eyes narrow. "What do you mean trust has nothing to do with it? I can know that you CAN hold me up, but I won't let my feet leave the ground unless I believe that you WILL."

The raven haired boy smirks. "Then you better get to know each of us fast, or you're going to be hating life when we get paired off tomorrow."

"Why shouldn't we get to know each other as fast as we can? We're going to be getting up close and personal eventually." Sai asks. "I'd be surprised if Tsunade didn't choreograph some group moves that involved all of us getting in each other's intimate space."

We all fall silent as we imagine any moves that would force us up against everyone at once. I notice a shiver go through most the group, signifying that they are uncomfortable with the idea.

"All right then. Now that we all know who is okay with that and who isn't, I vote we do start getting comfortable with each other." I suggest. "Starting now, not just waiting to find out who our partner is, because I highly doubt that we'll only be dancing with our partner or solo." I glance at everyone and they all seem to be on board.

"How should we do this? Question and answer?" Naruto wonders.

Chii shakes her head. "That doesn't always work. Too easy to lie."

Tenten nods in agreement. "There's other ways."

"Like what?" Suigetsu raises an eyebrow in askance.

"Studying body language and movement." Gaara inserts.

Hinata nods. "H-he's dead on. M-most of human c-communication is through what we d-don't hear, but wh-what we see."

"Like that old adage actions speak louder than words." Temari adds on.

"Very true. What we say and what we do can contradict each other, and the latter is usually what we mean." Sakura points out.

"So basically what you're saying is that we should all just watch each other?" Shikamaru clarifies.

"Pretty much." Karin confirms. "This will also help us get a sense of each other's rhythm. We can even start trying to synchronize ourselves. That will give us a major edge."

Once again we're taken captive by silence as we consider this.

"Hn. This isn't a bad idea." Sasuke approves after a few minutes.

"Great!" I beam. "Then we'll begin focusing on that tonight. I can only imagine how impressed Tsunade will be with all of us."

Everyone else nods and we eat in silence for a little while before someone speaks up.

"So... How about the weather?" Suigetsu chuckles.

"Oh c'mon, you've gotta have something better than that." Sakura laughs.

"Well what do you suggest? I hate awkward silences."

"...Movie quotes." Neji throws out.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheers. "I'll go first." He clears his throat and starts to speak in a somewhat high, squeaky voice, his eyes looking around fearfully. "Why spiders? Why couldn't it be 'follow the butterflies'?"

Temari, Tenten, Sakura, Chii, Suigetsu and I laugh and he stands up and bows, then walks over to the trash can near the island and dumps his plate.

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Karin pipes up as she finishes her last bite, then follows Naruto's example.

"They were starving him, Mum! There were bars on his window!" Suigetsu does his best Ron impression, which needs a little work.

Not one to be left out of the action, I point a finger scoldingly at Suigetsu. "Well, you'd best hope I don't put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley." At this point, even a few of the quieter ones, like Neji and Hinata, are chuckling.

Chii gets up and throws away her plate and remains standing once she comes back. "Oh Harry? If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet." She acts out the part of Myrtle pretty well.

"Uh... Thanks Myrtle." Shikamaru joins in with a legit British accent, eliciting louder laughs from those of us who were actually laughing, and even a light cough from Gaara that could easily be mistaken for a little laugh, which causes Temari to laugh harder.

Neji, to my surprise, goes next, with his own awesome sounding accent. "Follow the spiders? Follow the spiders? If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!"

This breaks Hinata, who goes into full out giggle mode. When her laughter subsides, she takes a turn. "Why is it, when something happens, it is always you three?"

To my astonishment, her answer comes from the male red head of the company. "Believe me, Professor. I've been asking myself the same question for six years." Everyone except Sasuke cracks at that moment, and I'm pretty sure that I saw his mouth twitch.

Tenten suddenly lets out a howl.

"What are you doing?" Sai, who I find to be the second most attractive of the males, goes along with it.

"Saving your life!" Tenten responds, in character.

"Thanks!... Great, now he's coming at us!" Sai interjects, with the smile that he has worn since he first got here. It ruins his act, but makes the rest of us roar louder all the same.

"Yeah, didn't think about that... run!" Even Sasuke starts chuckling at this point.

"Okay, I've got the winner right here." Sakura says as she stands up and clears her throat. "He can run faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo."

A dead silence suddenly takes over the group and stays for about five seconds before we all completely lose it. I hope I'm not the only one imagining Snape running at top speed like the Road Runner from Looney Tunes at being presented with a bottle of Pantene.

"Thank you, thank you!" Sakura gasps. After a few minutes, we all regain a semblance of sanity and quiet. Then Sasuke took his turn.

"Hn. We don't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunts." He states simply. With that, we all hit the floor.

.xXx.

**Sai's POV **

"Oh man, I'm pretty psyched!" Naruto grins and punches the air with his fist as we walk to the dance studio. It's a little after eleven in the morning and we've been summoned by Tsunade.

"We're just getting partners, what's the big deal?" Neji grumbles. He has been a bit grouchy all morning. I wonder what's got him upset. It could be lack of sleep, but why? He's rooming with Sasuke and I can't imagine them staying up late talking about yesterday's events like Naruto and Suigetsu were. They were in the room at the end of the hall to the right of the main doors, while Neji and Sasuke were at the end of the hall to the left, so I doubt that the two had heard them. I was in the room with only one bed near Naruto and Suigetsu and they weren't too loud, but I could hear them even with our doors closed. I severely doubt that Gaara and Shikamaru, who are in the room near Sasuke and Neji, were loud, if they made any noise at all. Shikamaru probably went right to sleep, and Gaara is the quietest of any of us.

We enter the admittedly chilly room to see the girls all ready there and doing warm up stretches.

"Good morning boys!" Ino calls when she sees us.

"Good morning!" Naruto and Suigetsu holler.

"Good morning." I smile.

We exchange few pleasantries as the seven of us men get to work on stretching out.

About ten minutes later, Tsunade walks in followed by two others.

"OH MY GOSH!" The girls all exclaim as soon as they see the additions, who are a black haired woman and a white haired man in matching green uniforms.

Tsunade laughs and turns to the guests. "I figured this would happen."

"Somebody pinch me." Karin says.

"Please prove I am not hallucinating." Chii begs.

"Is that really..?" Ino and Sakura trail off together.

Tsunade chuckles. "All right, all right. I called in some help in order to make sure that you all are partnered with the right person. I can see that I don't really have to make an introduction, but I will for everyone's sake. Everyone say hello to my former student Shizune and her friend Kakashi."

"Who for once is on time." Shizune laughs. Kakashi awkwardly rubs the back of his head, his one visible eye winking.

Tsunade laughs again. "Okay, so they have a combination they are going to show you all, and you are going to replicate it. Based on your individual moves yesterday, I think I have a pretty good idea of who will compliment who best... So let's get started! Up against the barre!"

We all nod and rush to the back of the room as Shizune and Kakashi take center stage, facing away from us, toward the mirror.

Tsunade takes her little remote out and presses a button to start the music. A few of the girls, Naruto and Suigetsu start bobbing their heads to the song which I recognize as the minus track to a Ke$ha song. There are four counts before Shizune and Kakashi begin. I watch closely, memorizing each step Kakashi takes. It's interesting how they choreograph this, like a ballroom dance with a hip-hop base. The combination ends with a dip, and I look around to see everyone elses' expressions. Naruto is grinning like a mad man, which I'm now accustomed to.

I look to either side of me and see a few wide eyes, a couple of smirks, two or three smiles and the rest are straight faced.

The beautiful one, Ino, starts to clap and the rest of the girls join in. Naruto, Suigetsu and I follow suit, and then the rest comply.

"Very well done." Tsunade compliments, before addressing us. "Now is your turn. You are to mimic them as best as you can. First up, I want to see... Uchiha and Haruno."

**I'm sure you have a pretty good idea who the partners are going to be, but you won't know for sure until next chapter! Speaking of which, I went through the second half of this chapter and modified it just as I was getting ready to post it, so the next chapter is mostly done, but I'm thinking that I'm going to go through and double check it. I'll probably have it ready by this coming weekend, and when I post it all depends on reviews. As much as I love each individual reviewer, one review per chapter is scanty motivation. We'll see how this goes. It might be another two weeks before I post the next chapter. **

**Anyway, I hope you at least cracked a smile at this. What good am I if I can't make people laugh at least a little bit? **

**I'm still taking suggestions for things that you would like to see happen in later chapters! **

**You all rock! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my gosh... My motivation for writing this story is zero right now. I've got half of the next chapter written and I have no desire to put time into finishing it. I know where I want to go with it and I have ideas that I'd like to throw in, but I don't feel any push to build the bridge to get there... For those of you who are reading this, I'm sorry that I'm taking so long, but this might not be finished before I leave on my eighteen month long mission in a little over half a year at the rate I'm going. I have no guarantee that it will ever be finished if it isn't done by then. Feel free to encourage me, it's not a lost cause yet, but I just thought that you should know should the worst happen. **

**Anyway, see the first chapter for pairings, disclaimer, etc. **

**DEDICATION: This chapter goes out to emosaku, sasuke14 and blackdiamond jester. If you wanna see your name up here, review! **

**Thanks to those of you who have added this to your story alerts and faves.**

**And on we go! **

**Hinata's POV**

I sigh softly as Gaara pulls me up from the dip at the end of the combination. He was my third test partner, the first being Neji-nii and the second being Naruto and I'm getting just a little tired. I look to Tsunade to make sure that it's okay for us to stop and at her nod, walk back to stand by the girls. I notice Ino who is just beaming. She only had one test partner and that was Sai, and she is not complaining at all about him. I continue down the line to Chii, who is talking with Temari. Chii was tested with Sasuke, Shikamaru, Gaara and Suigetsu, and she looked like she would be okay with any of them. Temari had been observed with Shikamaru, Gaara and Sasuke, and it was more or less clear that she worked best with Shikamaru. Next is Sakura who was tried with Sasuke and Naruto. It was painfully obvious that even though she was unhappy about partnering up with him, her and Sasuke's dancing was near perfect, while she and Naruto had a few kinks to work out. Karin danced with Neji-nii, Suigetsu and Sasuke and I personally think she and Suigetsu were the best pairing out of those. Lastly, they experimented with Tenten, putting her with Neji-nii and Naruto, and I think she did really well with Neji-nii. After her, I went, and now our coach and her two assistants are deliberating who goes with whom.

"Nice job out there Hinata." Ino compliments me.

"Oh... Thank you Ino..." I quietly reply.

"So who did you like best?" She inquires.

"Um... I'm not sure. Neji-nii and I are good with each other, but Naruto and I work very well together too I noticed. Gaara and I also flow well, but I'm a little nervous with him..." I answer.

"I get that... Who do you think will end up partners?"

"Well... You and Sai are the only pair that didn't dance with anyone else, so it's clear that you two will be paired together." At this, she smiled brightly. "And despite the fact that Sasuke and Sakura danced with others, I believe that they were best together." She nods in agreement. "I think Temari and Shikamaru looked very good." Again she nods. "Karin and Suigetsu seemed to have a connection."

She stops to consider that for a second. "Hm... You might be right."

I nod. "Really, you and Sakura are the only ones that I'm sure about. The rest I have no idea."

"Hm... I'm with you on Sakura and me, but I'm putting money on Karin and Suigetsu, and you and Naruto." She smiles.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." I say.

"Yeah... Well we won't have to wait long, here they come." She grins.

I turn back around to see Tsunade, Shizune and Kakashi walking over, looking resolved.

"We have decided." Tsunade announces, earning everyone's attention. "Okay, now before I list the pairs, I want you to know a few things. First of all, and I would have said this yesterday but I decided to give you the chance to get acquainted without pressure, you are all now to treat each other like family. If you fight with each other, you better get it resolved and fast, before it interferes with a performance. Next, until you get a really good feel for each other, your partner and you will be joined at the hip. Short of sleeping and using the bathroom, I want you to be together as much as possible. If one of you plans on going out, you both go out. If one of you is in the studio, the other better be on the way. I want you to be so comfortable with each other, that you feel you can tell your partner anything. The more you know about them, and the more that you feel you can tell them, the stronger your trust. The more you're together, the easier it will be to get a feel for how each other moves, so your fluidity is better. Got it?"

We all murmur our consent.

"What was that?" She barks.

"Yes ma'am!" We all shout back.

"Good. I want each boy to step forward as I call his name, then I will call his partner's name and she will join him." She eyes a piece of paper in her hand.

"Sai." He takes a step up as ordered. "You are Ino's partner." I don't have to see her face to know how excited she is as she practically flies over to him.

"Suigetsu." He also does as ordered, his eyes scanning over the rest of us girls with a glint in his eye. "You are Karin's partner." The red headed girl takes her usual manner of strutting over to him.

"Neji." My cousin stands up and looks at me. I'm almost sure that he and I will be partners. As long as I've been dancing, he has too, and we have partnered up on numerous occasions, so I know that we are really good together. "Your partner is Tenten."

Mine and his eyes enlarge as Tenten gets up and walks over to Neji-nii. He glances between the two of us, before nodding and accepting the decision, although a little reluctantly I can tell.

"Gaara." Temari's brother hesitates before taking a step forward. "Your partner is Chii." The other of my fellow dark haired girls smiles slightly before walking to him.

"Shikamaru." The only other long haired male besides Neji yawns and steps forward. "Your partner is Temari." The sandy blonde looks him over before going to his side.

"Naruto." The blond male grins and takes a large step forward. "You are with Hinata."

My heart jumps at my name. Oh dear... I'm already nervous, and I haven't even talked to him yet. I nervously walk over to stand at his side, and he continues to grin, this time straight at me.

"Sasuke." The last boy steps forward. "As you can tell, you are partnered with Sakura." I turn to view Sakura who looks like she was just presented with her least favorite food. I watch as she moves to Sasuke, who looks like a cat who just ate a canary... I can tell that they'll be a very interesting pair.

"Meet your new best friend. While you will not be dancing with them one hundred percent of the time, it will be just short of that. Now I have a little assignment for you. Over the next week, I want you and your partner to choreograph your own routine to that fits both of you. The routine must express yourselves as individuals, then show how you come together to make it work. No less than two minutes. It will be up to all of you to schedule times in here. Get it, got it, good! You are dismissed. I will check in periodically to see how things are going. We will meet in here again a week from tomorrow." With that said, she turns and walks out.

Shizune takes a step forward and looks us over appraisingly, then smiles. "You all are very good in your own right, but a bit of advice to those of you who have never been on a team before," Her smile drops as her eyes harden and stop on a few people, like she knew just who was used to dancing alone. "It's no longer just about you. One of you screws up and you all will pay." She scrutinizes each and every one of us, not lingering on one more than the others. When she looks at me, I involuntarily shudder under her gaze, then she moves on. Once she is done, her face softens back into a smile. "Now don't let Tsunade scare you too badly, okay? She's really not that bad. She drives you hard, but it's to help you do the best you can and better. Good luck to you all, and I'm sure I'll see you again." As Tsunade had, she turns around and starts to walk out, pausing for a second to wait for Kakashi, who I assumed smiles at us (who can really tell with that mask on?) and raises a hand in farewell, and the two leave together.

It is silent as we all look at each other as new partners. Naruto beams at me and holds his hand out, which I timidly smile and gently shake.

"Okay!" Ino calls out energetically. "We should probably coordinate times here in the studio for the next week."

"Hn. First come, first serve." Sasuke states. We all are utterly silent for a moment before my partner speaks.

"Nuh-uh, no way."

"I'm against that too. A pair could easily monopolize the studio if we went about it like that." Tenten added.

"...Maybe we could try that." I suggest and instantly everyone's eyes are on me, making me highly uncomfortable. Out of habit, I nervously bring my hands up and press my forefingers together and look away. "Wh-what I m-mean i-is that m-maybe we could j-just c-come i-in a-and practice wh-whenever we w-want. I-if a pair is already there..."

"They can make the decision whether to leave or stay." Temari helps me out. I'm so glad that the attention is now between her and me.

"R-right." I nod. "Though they can only have it for another hour afterward if they decide to stay."

"That's not a bad idea actually. While it would be more organized if we were to assign certain time periods to each pair, if one couldn't make their slot, we'd have to switch things around, taking more time up that could be spent practicing. This elminates that. Good thinking Hinata." Chii praises me. I give her a shy smile.

"Okay..." Sakura chimes in, looking slightly disgruntled. "Can't we make it a bit more organized than this though? What if one pair just barely gets in after the last when another pair comes and wants a turn? The pair that had gotten there first would only have an hour."

"Hm... That's a bit of predicament." Sai points out.

We all go silent again as we try and think of a solution.

"I got it." Suigetsu grins. "We can use a sign-in sheet. We'll get a clipboard with paper to store in here and whenever a pair comes in, they write down their names and the time. If another pair comes in after them, they can look at the paper and see how long they've been here. If it's under two hours, they have to give them the remaining time. If it's over two hours, they negotiate how much time the first pair is given to wrap it up. When the first pair leaves, the second pair signs in."

We all consider it. I can't see any problems with it so I nod, as do a few others.

"That's really smart actually." Ino points out, causing Suigetsu to grin even bigger.

"But can we trust people to be honest and not budge their time?" Neji-nii questions.

"...That's not always going to be possible." Gaara, who I figure is the quietest person in the whole company, speaks up. "They won't be able to budge it by more than a few minutes and get away with it if another pair walks in shortly after them."

Shikamaru nods. "Yeah. If say, Sasuke and Sakura-" He cuts off for a second at the withering glares sent his way by the example partners, before clearing his throat and continuing. "If Sasuke and Sakura got here at noon, and they tried to budge their time an hour, to show that they got here at one, and Naruto and Hinata came in ten minutes later and looked at the sheet, they'd see that the two were lying and raise a red flag. It's really not worth it. The most you could probably get away with would be half an hour max and say that you were rounding."

"So it's settled. We'll use this system." Karin finalizes. "Now can we go? We've got a lot of other stuff to cover you know."

We all glance around at each other and nod. Karin is the first one walking toward the door and is out in about five seconds. We all stare at the door silently before my partner chuckles and lowly whistles, looking at Suigetsu.

"Good luck with her dude. She's obviously a feisty one." Naruto warns.

Suigetsu shrugs nonchalantly. "Fine by me. I swim with sharks all the time." That said, he follows his partner out the door.

"She's right though. We've got to get used to our partners, so we should get started." Chii adds, heading for the door herself. Once she reaches it, she holds it open and glances back over her shoulder. "Coming Gaara?"

Her partner's eyes widen briefly before he nods and catches up with her, the two exiting together.

A sigh is heard and I trace it to Shikamaru, who's looking at Temari. "Guess we better go too."

Temari nods, seeming a bit surprised as her brother had. I find it funny in a somewhat ironic way that Temari got paired with Chii's foster brother and Chii got paired with Temari's brother.

"Yeah, let's go Lazy." She agrees. He sighs again and mutters under his breath, and I'm pretty sure I heard Chii's name and something about gossiping girls as they head out.

"I'm all for getting going too. C'mon Hyuuga." Tenten commands. My eyes bolt over to Neji-nii who I know is not used to being ordered around by girls his age, and if I didn't know him quite so well, I wouldn't see that he was a bit irritated by this new development, as few people can see through the mask he wears in public. They leave quietly and I can't help but wonder how this will turn out.

I notice Ino who is just radiating excitement and I'm pretty sure that it all has to do with her partner and the highly potential alone time.

"Well, let's not waste anymore time, shall we?" She chirps happily. "Come on Sai!" She doesn't even wait for a response before grabbing his arm and all but dragging him out. All the while, I see that he keeps his smile intact and I can't help but laugh.

I turn my head and catch Naruto's gaze, then avert my eyes. I swear I can feel him smiling at me.

"Well let's go Hinata!" He shouts. "Why don't we go out to lunch and talk?"

I glance back at him and shyly nod.

"Great! I saw this ramen bar on the way here and I'm dying to check it out!" I don't get a chance to open my mouth to agree before his hand encircles my wrist and he's pulling me out. I look at Sakura who laughs, and I'm sure that it's at me.

.xXx.

**Naruto's POV**

I take a huge whiff as Hinata and I enter the ramen bar, Ichiraku's, and I swear I've died and gone to Heaven. I look back at her with a smile. "Do you want to sit at a table or on the stools?

She stares back at me nervously. "Um... Y-you c-can choose."

I frown and shake my head and walk over to the stools and pull one up, Hinata taking the one on my left. I order a large bowl of miso ramen with pork and she orders a small bowl of miso ramen with beef. I could tell from the second that Tsunade-baachan announced us as partners that this would be a bit of a challenge. Hinata is shy and timid, and I've only dealt with a few people like that. Eventually they opened up, but I can't wait for eventually with Hinata. She needs to open up and get comfortable with me, and do it fast.

"So... You're Neji's cousin?" I ask in an attempt to break the ice. She nods. Okay, I should probably ask questions that require her to actually talk. "How well do you get along?"

She stays quiet for another second before replying. "W-we get along f-fine."

"He seems pretty protective of you."

She stiffens a bit at that. "...Y-yes. He is."

Right then our food came. I immediately dig in and almost cry. I've had good ramen, and I've had great ramen. This ramen kicks the great ramen in the stringy noodled butt. I wonder if Hinata likes ramen... I glance over to her and notice how she's eating. Back straight, not slouched over at all, unlike me. I'm bent over to a point that, had I not slouched every day that I've been able to sit up, probably would leave me pretty sore. She doesn't take massive bites, again unlike me. I'm surprised my chopsticks haven't broken under the weight of all the noodles I grab with each bite. She doesn't slurp... Let's just say everything that she does is opposite to me.

"How do you do that?" I ask, forgetting that my mouth is full.

She turns her head to look at me. "Do what?"

I quickly swallow before I answer. "Sit up straight, take tiny bites, not slurp and stuff like that?"

She quickly looks herself over and lightly laughs, which I admit is a nice sound, then looks back to me. "I was trained."

I raise an eyebrow. "Trained?"

She nods. "My family is big on being proper ladies and gentlemen."

I chuckle. "That makes sense. I thought Neji just had a stick up his butt."

"Sometimes I swear that he does." She responds quickly, before her eyes widen and she claps her hands over her mouth.

I laugh. "Nice!"

"Please don't tell him I said that!" She pleads.

"Why? Will that really make him mad or something?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think that it will, but he might scold me for gossiping. He's always been better at the whole polite society thing than I have and-" She cuts off.

"And what?" I urge.

"Nothing. I've already said too much."

"What do you mean?"

"I shouldn't be talking about Neji. That's up to him to do. It would upset him that I've been saying things behind his back, not what I have said."

I nod. "Fair enough." I take another bite, then smirk, and make sure that my mouth is empty before speaking again. "So you're a bit of a rebel then, aren't you?"

She blushes and shakes her head rapidly. "N-not at all. I just broke a rule. The most commonly broken one, as a matter of fact..."

"Oh. Do you like doing all of that stuff?" I can't imagine how anyone would.

"W-well it is useful in many ways..." She answers. I quirk an eyebrow.

"But do you like it?"

"...No. It's exhausting and for the longest time, took a ton of effort to remember to check and fix myself. Now it is a habit and I feel out of place amongst others who haven't had to endure it."

"So you are a rebel."

She sighs. "You could say that, I guess."

I grin. "Hey, good girls never made history."

Her eyes meet mine and she softly smiles. "I have heard that before."

My grin expands, then I notice something. "Whoa."

Her smile falls. "What is it?"

"You haven't stuttered half as much since we got here."

Her smile comes back. "Honestly, it's only because I get nervous around men that I don't know, especially when we're unaccompanied by someone that I do know, who is typically Neji. I'm used to the company of girls and after a little while I can relax around them, but with boys, it's different. However, you are now my partner and I accept that I have to be as comfortable with you as possible, so I guess I was able to stop stuttering."

I nod in understanding. Girls and guys are different in so many ways, it's down right scary sometimes. "How long did it take you to get used to the girls yesterday?"

"Not long. The second Ino got here, she started pushing us all together. Good thing too. She's been thinking the way Tsunade wanted us to from the get-go."

"That's cool. Except for Suigetsu and Sai, the other guys all just kept to themselves when we got here. It's a good thing we came to hang out with you all, because I'm pretty sure that what we said over dinner got the rest thinking."

"That's good then. We'll all fall apart during our routines if we don't know each other, for various reasons."

"Right." I go for another bite of noodles and don't pick anything up. I look down and frown when I realize that there is only broth left. I sigh and pick the bowl up and drink it all. "Well it was good while it lasted."

She laughs and finishes hers as well. "Yes. What shall we do now?"

I shrug and lay down my money as she does the same. "Let's just walk around and get used to the town. We can talk along the way."

"All right." She smiles at me and I can feel myself lightly blush. Dang it, she's cute.

"Let's go." I shove my hands in my pockets and head toward the door, opening it and holding it for her, earning another smile.

"Thank you." She tilts her head to the side a bit, then straightens it and walks out ahead of me.

"So where do you want to go now?" I inquire as we head up the street.

"Nowhere too far from the Academy. At least until we learn the layout of the city better. Chii and I almost got lost last night just heading to the grocery store which is only a few streets over."

I nod and look around for somewhere we could just relax. I see trees up ahead. "Looks like there's a park. Wanna go check it out?"

"That sounds great." Score. We can just sit and chill as we talk. I think that it'll ease the pressure a bit. We walk on without saying anything for a bit, until a black iron fence surrounding a park that was green as far as the eye could see, with a few ten foot trees that were full of leaves and tall grass with little white flowers poking up in random patches fills our view.

"It's really nice..." Hinata says, barely louder than a whisper.

"Yeah it is." I continue to rake my eyes over the area, before stopping on an unoccupied swing, hanging from one of the trees. I break out into a grin before making a run for it.

"Naruto?" Hinata calls questioningly, but I don't stop. I can hear her run after me, but I don't slow. Only when I reach the swing do I halt, only to plop down on it and begin pushing myself back and forth. She comes stops when she reaches me.

"What on Earth was that all about?" She asks as she catches her breath.

I shrug. "I love swings."

She laughs. "Okay, I'll remember that."

I beam and keep swinging. "Now we can talk. It's more comfortable here than it is in that stuffy dance studio, isn't it?"

She nods slightly. "Yes. The openness feels pleasant." She sits down and leans back against the tree.

"...So why did you start dancing?" I wonder aloud.

She doesn't answer for a minute, so instead of staring at her, I look up at the tree branches. I watch as a little brown squirrel scampers across one to the trunk and up. At the sound of a deep inhale, my attention is back on Hinata, who seems ready to speak. "At first, it was when I was little and I remember being taken in by the beauty of ballerinas and girls in the sparkly costumes moving around. They made it look so fun and pretty that I wanted to try it. So I asked my father to enroll me in ballet when I was five. Then I discovered how liberating it was and I couldn't stop. I loved it too much. What about you?"

I think about what to tell her. She's nice, but I'm really not into the idea of delving into my life's story just yet. I'll just go with the skimmed version. "Mine's pretty much the same. I was walking the street on my way home from school one day in middle school, when I bumped into a group of street dancers. They were krumping and I thought it looked like fun, so I asked them to show me how. Once I got started, it felt too good to stop."

She nods in understanding. I have to wonder if, like me, there's more to her story.

.xXx.

**Neji's POV**

As we walk out of the studio, I suddenly sneeze, startling my partner.

"You feeling okay?" She asks as we walk down the street away from the Academy.

I nod in response. I wonder where that came from. I haven't had ever had allergies, but I have heard that they can appear out of nowhere.

"You better not be getting sick on me Hyuuga." She warns.

"I'm not." I snap.

She shrugs. "Good. So start sharing."

Why do I have to go now? "Hn. Ladies first."

She looks at me quizzically for a second, then does the unexpected. She laughs. "If you haven't noticed Hyuuga, I'm no lady."

That's obvious. I would go as far as to assume that she's a tomboy now, or was for a fair amount of time and never completely grew out of it. The very thing that my uncle prayed Hinata or her sister would never become. "Whatever. You go first."

She stares back at me, then shakes her head. "You know what? Skip it. How long have you been dancing?"

The change in subject catches me slightly off guard, but I go along with it. I take a second to think. I've been dancing since I was at least five... "About fourteen years."

"Cool. I can't think of a time when I wasn't dancing and I'm nineteen now. What kind of dancing do you like to do most? I could see yesterday that you know the more classical style."

"Ballet and contemporary are what I am familiar with, as well as some jazz."

She nods. "Figures. Are you super experienced in hip-hop?"

I shake my head. Nothing like that was allowed in Hiashi's house. It's a miracle I have enough experience with it to get me on to the team.

"Oh man, have you been missing out. Contemporary and ballet are pretty enough, and they are expressive in their own right, but if you really want to let out the anger and negative emotions, you've gotta let it all go." She says with a slight smile.

As soon as she looks ahead, I take a chance to look her over again as I had when our partnership was announced. Her posture isn't perfect, her hands seem to have taken up a permanent residence in her pockets, she drags her feet... The list goes on. I really don't know what to make of her yet. From what I had seen yesterday, she's confident in her skills and knows what she's doing. She's commanding, but not in an obnoxious way. It would seem that most of the girls are like this, but I can tell that she sees what needs to be done and does it. In all honesty, I have no idea why Tsunade put us together when our styles are polar opposites. However, I do intend to figure it out.

"So how do you think we should do this? We need to come up with something good. It wouldn't hurt if you learned some hip-hop now either." She poses.

I hate to admit it, but she's right. I knew coming into this that Hinata and I would need to pick that up to do the routines. That doesn't mean that I like it. "Fine. How good are you at the other styles?"

She shrugs. "I've dabbled in jazz, ballet and contemporary, but as I'm sure you've figured, hip-hop is my strong suit."

Obviously. "Hn."

She looks back at me and looks me up and down. "...So... What do you like to do, besides dancing?"

I eye her before answering. "I like to study birds."

This seems to pique her interest. "Really? That's cool. Birds are fun to watch, especially when they take off."

"Yes they are." I reply, nonplussed. "...What about you?"

"Oh, well... I love weapons." She states. This catches my interest.

"Weapons? Like guns and knives?"

She shakes her head. "No. I'm talking back in the feudal era. Katanas, kunai, shuriken, stuff like that."

I raise an eyebrow. "Where do you learn about them?"

"There's this museum in my neighborhood that has them on display. I would spend hours there, just reading the history of each one. Every once in awhile, if I was the only one there, the curator would take them down and let me help polish them. They feel amazing and I've always wondered what it would be like to wield one in battle. See how easily they cut through flesh and bone..." She trails off wistfully and one thought crosses my mind.

Oh Kami-sama, my partner is a closet sadist.

.xXx.

**Tenten's POV**

I inwardly laugh as I see something akin to disturbance pass through Neji's eyes as I go on about weaponry, bringing up some of the more macabre aspects. I swear, the dude has something far up his butt. Sans Naruto and Suigetsu, I think the rest of them may too. It's hilarious watching this guy who seems to have the emotional range of a rock, squirm a bit. After I enlighten him a little more on the wonders of how back in the days of constant wars amongst the nations, certain mixtures could be used to polish the blood off of the steel so that it didn't stain or rust, and he looks like he might be sick, I stop and change gears.

"So, what do you think of the guys?"

I watch him as he contemplates my new question, and it really isn't much of a show. He just stares ahead, as opposed to others, who look up, or make funny faces.

"...The rest of the boys are annoying in different ways." He finally answers. "Uzumaki and Hozuki are too loud and, in some ways, invasive, Sai is just plain creepy, Nara complains about everything, Gaara hardly talks, and Uchiha... Everything about him is irritating."

I try not to laugh out loud, I really do, but a little chuckle escapes me. He looks at me, clearly affronted. "What?"

I sigh. "In all honesty, from what I've seen, you and Sasuke are a lot alike."

"How so?" He demands.

"Well for starters, you both walk around like you have sticks shoved faaar up your backsides, you clearly don't take a liking to people easily, you both have a more or less condescending air, and don't even get me started on that 'hn' thing. Those are just my observations, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who thinks that." I point out.

He seems to think this over for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Impossible. I am nothing like him."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever you say Hyuuga."

"Hn." Of course that's what he says. "...What do you think of the girls?"

I take a few seconds myself as I reflect on the time I've spent with my five new friends. "Well... They all seem pretty cool in their own way. Hinata is sweet and adorable, and she's my roomie so I'm glad that I know we won't have a problem getting along. Ino is nice enough, but she's a little too... openly girly for my taste. She goes on about boys and make-up way too much. Sakura seems pretty awesome, like she's one of those girls who can be a girl, but not too much of one, you know?" I pause and chuckle as he actually nods. "Karin... She's got her own thing going on. At first we all thought that she was a royal snob, but she's just got more nerve than most of us care to show, and she isn't afraid to be blunt. Chii is all right, but I haven't gotten to see much from her. All I've gathered is that she loves laughing and making people laugh. I've picked out even less about Temari, but I know she's tough. All in all, I think that we won't have many problems."

"Ah." Sweet mother of krumping, what is it with him and monosyllabic responses? I wonder if Sakura has to put up with Uchiha pulling the the same attitude... I bet five bucks that she does and is as irritated as I am.

"What do you think of the girls?" I continue the inquisition.

"You all seem okay... None of you are as bad as the fan girls I have back home... Except maybe Ino." He answers.

I chuckle. "I wouldn't worry too much about her. I bet that she'll be all over Sai for awhile."

"Hn." And here we go again. Now I'm getting relatively ticked off.

"Someone may have told you this at some point, they may not have, but your insistance on using caveman like grunts as means of communication fail to impress anyone who is not focusing only on your high society background or your physical appeal." I sigh.

He quirks an eyebrow slightly. "You know of my clan?"

Ha. Who doesn't? Hyuuga may not be a top name in the country (yet), but anyone who's into business the way my dad is would know who Hyuuga Hiashi, the head of one of the fastest rising conglomerate companies, and his family are. In all honesty, I was surprised to have met Hinata here. Then again, from what I had heard, Hinata wasn't the one under pressure to take over from her dad, so she could do what she wanted. I figured Neji was here as well, since he is her body guard in a sense. More like her minder than actual service man. "Yeah, I know a little bit about your family."

"Is one of your parents a business leader or investor?" He continues questioning.

"Not exactly. My dad is a follower of up-and-coming big name businesses, as well as current ones. He's mentioned your family a number of times."

"Ah."

That's it. "All right Hyuuga." I snap as I stop walking and turn to him. "Look, by the time a typical child reaches the age of five, they know almost fifty-thousand words and know the context in which at least half of them belong, yet here you are using grunts and breaths in the place of at least a thousand different words and or phrases that a five year old would be able to use correctly. Now I don't know if you have developed a new neanderthalic language or what, but until the rest of the human race is clued into it, I implore you to defer the utilization of said language and settle for the common vernacular, or at least something that the rest of us can understand. I can assure you that we girls all have an expansive vocabulary and would be able to understand what some may refer to as 'big words'. For goodness sake, I will pay you five dollars for every day that you do not 'hn' or 'ah' more than three times for the next week." I finish stiffly.

He stares back at me in something I believe to be akin to shock, before composing himself. "...Fine. I will acquiesce to your request, despite the relatively offensive way in which you presented it. I will work toward the cessation of my 'neanderthalic language' as you so put it, for one week. Be prepared to hand over thirty-five." He smirks, before strolling on ahead, leaving me staring after him.

Huh. This could be the beginning of an... entertaining partnership.

**And that's a wrap! **

**I hope that you guys liked it. I'm aware that I'm probably rushing this just a little bit, but if I've succeeded in creating the right circumstances, then you can all understand why Hinata got over her shyness with Naruto so quickly, right? Don't worry, her cute little stutters aren't over yet. Here's a question: Am I the only one who could get a vivid image of Tenten telling Neji off in that last part? I hope not... **

**Anyways... I hope that I at least made you crack a smile! **

**Do me a favor and... REVIEW! A girl needs to know how she's doing! I'm still taking suggestions! If you have any fun experiences that you'd be willing to share, that you'd like to see the company doing, tell me! **

**See you in the next chapter which will be put up in an indeterminable amount of time... It may not be for three or four more weeks, after my AP tests are over. Yeah... It probably won't be until then. Bye! **


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